Margin

I believe that the Lord guided me as I selected books to bring along on half-time. One of the books that has rocked my world and spoken deeply into the depths of my longing to understand SLOW is called Margin by Richard Swenson. As an M.D., the author has watched thousands of people suffer with ailments brought about as a result of overloaded lives and he asserts that the cure is margin.

He opens his book with this paragraph:

"Marginless is being thirty minutes late to the doctors office because you were twenty minutes late getting out of the bank because you were ten minutes late dropping the kids off at school because the car ran out of gas two blocks from the gas station and you forgot your wallet at home. 

Marginless is fatigue, margin is energy.

Marginless is red ink; margin is black ink.

Marginless is hurry; margin is calm.

Marginless is anxiety; margin is security.

Marginless is culture; margin is counter-culture. "

Yes! My heart screamed as I first read Dr. Swenson's words... This is it. I am in desperate need of understanding margin. 

I devoured his book in which he teaches about the need to really maintain margin in 4 areas. Here is an excerpt from pg. 78 of his book. 

"To be healthy, we require margin in at least four areas: emotional energy, physical energy, time, and finances. Conditions of modern living, however, have drained these margins rather than sustaining them. In emotional energy, seldom have we been so stressed, so alone and so exhausted in spirit. In physical energy, we are overfed, under active, and sleep-deprived. In time, our clock-dominated, nanosecond culture leaves us wheezing and worn out. And in finances, universal indebtedness makes our societal landscape look like a fiscal Gettysburg."

By virtue of picking up and moving to a different country, where we don't know anyone, and where we will only be for a 6 month period of time... I was gifted some instant margin.  I haven't used a calendar since we have been here. I can easily remember what we have going on.... because we don't have a flurry of commitments on the calendar.... just white space. 

I don't have an international cell phone to talk to people. I am not connected to the internet, texting, or email 24/7 as I was in the states and I am actually learning how to get around without always relying on GPS.

There is no mail service at our house in Costa Rica. 

We only have one car. 

Our rented home came furnished and very simply equipped. 

My life has never had so much white space and I can honestly say I have stepped out of the cycle of being caught in the urgent and with much of the instant margin I have been given, the important things that have been on my heart are receiving attention. My heart overflows with thankfulness at the gift that Jesus has given us in this half-time... to re-group and not miss the things that really matter.
My prayer is that in this time I will pay close attention to what the scriptures teach about margin. How did Jesus live? What were his rhythms? And how, once we return to our home in Indiana do I live against the incredible pull of culture and stay margin-full and living the important, non-urgent?